In brief
At COP17 in Yerevan, negotiators concluded a “Yerevan Pathway” that prioritizes accelerating progress toward the 23 targets of the Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework without adding new ones. The pathway emphasizes implementation, financial support, policy alignment, and engagement of governments and societies, and is backed by nearly $2 billion in newly pledged biodiversity funding. The key uncertainties identified are whether the announced funds, national policy reforms, and international cooperation will close the gap between commitments and action.
On November 1 at the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Yerevan, Armenia, negotiators finalized the Yerevan Pathway, a strategy aimed at accelerating global biodiversity action and filling the widening gap between countries’ commitments and on‑ground implementation.
The conference’s central purpose was the first global review of progress on the Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the international agreement that sets 23 targets for 2030. The appraisal warned that without rapid acceleration, the 2030 targets and the long‑term 2050 mission would be missed, exposing nature to irreparable loss.
Rather than outlining new quantitative goals, the Yerevan Pathway focuses on how states can intensify and coordinate existing commitments. Its priorities span accelerating implementation, broadening the coverage of national targets, strengthening financial and other support mechanisms, engaging governments and societies at all levels, and improving monitoring and knowledge generation. The plan recognises that national legislation, institutions and funding streams must be aligned with the framework’s targets to achieve measurable progress.
Alongside the pathway, COP17 adopted decisions on specific biodiversity realms: defining standards for protected areas and forest biodiversity, setting guidelines for sustainable wildlife management, tackling invasive alien species, and protecting marine and coastal biodiversity. Scientific advances such as synthetic biology were also addressed, with commitments to integrate risk assessment and governance into biodiversity protection.
Funding pledges accompanying the decisions represent nearly $2 billion in new biodiversity finance. The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity reported $560 million under the ninth replenishment of the Global Environment Facility and its Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, $500 million through the Species Recovery Alliance, and more than $330 million via the Value Nature Fund. These commitments form a financial base intended to support the implementation priorities outlined in the pathway.
Despite the optimism, negotiators highlighted unresolved challenges. Financing gaps remain, with uncertainty over whether the pledged amounts will be mobilised in time. National policy reforms required to operationalise the pathway’s actions are still under negotiation, and sustained international cooperation is essential yet difficult to guarantee. The ability of the Yerevan Pathway to close the action‑commitment divide will therefore hinge on these critical, unresolved issues as the world moves toward 2030.
